TUC calls for partnership between unions and ministers

Unions can look forward to the new Labour Government implementing
their agenda, TUC general secretary John Monks told the AEEU annual conference
today in Blackpool.

Monks said, “Trade unionism can now advance with a spring in
its step, confident that much of our agenda can be implemented with the
incoming Labour Government.

“I stress the word ‘with’. It’s not just a matter of what we
want. It’s not an annual pay claim. Instead it’s a matter of what we can do,
how we can help, where we can make a difference.”

He called on the unions to rise to the challenge of
improving public services and transport systems. “We need to rise to the
occasion, to prove our worth to the nation and to demonstrate our crucial
importance in achieving the results that the British people are demanding,” he
said.

Ministers and unions have to work in partnership to address
the problems of public sector employees, he claimed. “At the moment, too many
public servants are demoralised. They worry about the decline of regard for
public service and the power of the belief that only the private sector can
deliver.

"In too many areas, there are desperate shortages of
the right kind of people to carry out the jobs so essential to society.
Relative pay levels have slumped. A friend of my son’s said to me the other day
– only mugs go into teaching nowadays.”